Wilfork irked by Harrison comments

By

Matt Pepin

December 12, 2011

By Matt Pepin, Globe Staff

The comments of former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, now a football analyst on NBC, rubbed at least one Patriots player the wrong way.

Harrison opined on a broadcast yesterday that quarterback Tom Brady’s episode of sideline frustration vs. the Redskins was in part due to feeling like he had to score every time down the field because “he knows he’s playing on a really bad defense.”

“They’re going to get in trouble in future games because that defense doesn’t seem like they’re going to get any better,” Harrison said. “You’ve got wide receivers playing safety, wide receivers playing nickelback. You cannot survive in the league with wide receivers doing that.”

Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork admitted today on an interview on WEEI’s The Big Show that he hears criticism of his team and can’t help wanting to respond sometimes.

“I want to do it all the time and tell them to shut the ‘f’ up. But everybody has a job to do,” Wilfork said. “You have to respect their job. People have opinions. It’s just an opinion. If that’s how they feel, that’s how they feel. The only thing we can control is this locker room.”